"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber the owner of the blacksmith slides up the arena gate, "There's no turning back now." Astrid looks around, "What the hell am I doing here." I mutter to myself as I rub my face, "I hope I get some serious burns!" Tuff grabs his spear, "I'm hoping for some mauling like on my shoulder or lower back." Ruff had her spear in her hand, "Yeah it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Astrid swings her bangs out of her face and holds her axe up, "Yeah no kidding right. Pain. Love it." Hiccup had the axe Stoick gave him last night, "Oh great who let him in." Tuff looks back, "Right! Let's get started! The recruit who does it best will get the honour of killing their first dragon right in front of the entire village." Gobber twists the hook on his hand and I flinched, "Hiccup already killed a Nightfury so does that disqualify him or..." Snotlout mocks, the twins snickered, I whipped towards him, "You did what?! Did you really kill a Nightfury!" I felt rage boil inside me, "What? No, no! It got away before I could anyway..." He mutters the last part, I furrowed my brows and walked ahead, "Damn it." I heard him whisper to himself, "Alright! Right behind these doors are a few of the many species you'll learn to fight, the Deadly Nadder." Gobber points at the thumping gate, "Speed eight, Armour sixteen." Fishlegs notes, "The Hideous Zippleback." Gobber walks to the next gate, "Stealth eleven times two." Fishlegs mutters, "The Monstrous Nightmare." Gobber walks to it, "Firepower sixteen." Fishlegs squints, "The Terrible Terror." Gobber stands in front of the thrashing door, "Attack eight, venom twelve!" Fishlegs explains, "Can you stop that!" Gobber shouts, "And. The Gronkle." He rests his hand on the lever, "Jaw strength eight." Fishlegs whispers, "Woah, woah, wait. Aren't you gonna teach us first?!" Snotlout asks, "I believe in learning on the job." Gobber pulls the lever down and the wooden bar rises up, the Gronkle flies out, "Today's learning about survival. You get blasted, you're dead." Gobber narrates, "Quick! What's the first thing you need?" Gobber asks, "A doctor?!" Hiccup shouts, "Plus five speed!" Fishlegs looks around, "A shield." I run and roll down on the ground picking up and fastening a shield to my forearm, "Yes! I like this new lass." Gobber nods approvingly, "The first thing you need is a shield, if you have a choice between a sword and a shield, take the shield." He says, the twins were fighting over a shield and it was blasted, "Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out." Gobber lists, "Those shield are good for another thing. Noise. Make lots of it to throw off the dragon's aim." Gobber tells us, everyone uses their axes and maces to knock against the metal of their shields, I saw the Gronkle shake its head discombobulated, "Every dragon has a specific limit on how many shots it has. How many does a Gronkle have?" Gobber asks, "Five?" Snotlout guesses, "Oh I know! Six!" Fishlegs stops, "Right, that's one for each of you, one unscathed." The Gronkle shoots a molten boulder at Fishleg's shield and he screams, "Fishlegs you're out." Gobber sighs, "Hiccup! Get in there!" Gobber says, I saw him cowering behind the weapon stand, Snotlout was trying to talk to Astrid but was hit by a shot, "Snotlout, you're done." Gobber says, Astrid rolled to near Hiccup, "So I guess it's just you, me and Nat huh..." Hiccup rocks on his feet, "Nup. Just you." She rolls away as the Gronkle shoots a boulder at his shield, it flew off his arm and rolled away, Hiccup chases after it but the Gronkle figured he was an easy target, "Hiccup!" My eyes darted around and I ran after him and the Gronkle, it powers up a shot and was just about to hit him, "NO!" I ran forwards and held my hands out, the Gronkle stops and closes its mouth, "Back." I push my hands forwards towards it, it looked at my upper arm, seeing the mark of the fury and lowered its head, "That's right, that's a good girl." I put my hand on her shoulder and eased her back into her cage, "I'm so sorry, I promise I'll get you out of here one day." I scratch her chin and she drops down on the floor, rolling around content. I shut the door and lowered the wooden bar, I sigh and turn back around, the six of them dropped their weapons in shock, "Alright." I scrunch my fists and point my finger, "I'll just... go now." I run out of the arena.
